Information literacy is crucial to any conceivable profession and to personal decisions ranging from health to finances (plus, I would argue, to forging a collective future on our planet). Yet, it’s getting harder to teach students how to discern credible sources. As a millennial, I’ve observed the Internet evolve into a homogenous marketing tool. A… Read more »
Building Critical AI Literacy through Writing Assignments: Dr. Abigail Rawleigh’s Method
Dr. Abigail Rawleigh, who teaches for IUB’s English Department, has been talking with me about her evolving approach to generative AI. I’ve already learned a lot from her, and I thought other educators would appreciate Dr. Rawleigh’s measured, reflective AI pedagogy, so I interviewed her recently. Can you tell me how your approach to AI… Read more »
Is over-reliance on GenAI undermining your course goals? Consider a scaffolded in-class writing assignment with Canvas and LockDown Browser
This post was written by John Robison, Lecturer in Philosophy. A longer version of this post first appeared in the philosophy blog, the Daily Nous. A successful humanities course helps students cultivate critical, personally enriching, and widely applicable skills, and it immerses them in the exploration of perspectives, ideas, and modes of thought that can illuminate, challenge,… Read more »
Writing In Class to Reduce Students’ Stress and Overreliance on AI
When I think of the scads of papers I wrote as an undergrad, I recall hunkering down in my dorm room, alone with my laptop and books. Only my Shakespeare professor took a different approach: she had us write (by hand, in blue books) timed essay exams instead of take-home paper assignments. Although these essays,… Read more »
Peer Review Makes Writing More Authentic for Students
Can you remember the last project you wrote for a single reader? How about the last one you finished in one draft and with zero input from peers? In papers written for one reader (the instructor) without peer feedback (classmates), learners face an artificial situation. They write to perform—not to communicate, the purpose of most… Read more »
Reading: The Partner of Good Writing
Without reading well, students can’t write well. The two skills cannot be disentangled. Yet, in my writing courses, I’ve often lamented that students don’t seem to be completing or comprehending the reading assignments. Why aren’t they reading? My colleagues Sarah Pedzinksi and Madeleine Gonin lay out five common barriers and some solutions in their post,… Read more »